Introduction: Buffier’s Novel Philosophy of Common Sense

Abstract This chapter provides an introduction to the largely unexplored territory of Claude Buffier’s philosophical contributions to early modern thought. It discusses some of the central ideas of his philosophy of common sense, his account of first truths and commitment to a sentiment-based theory of knowledge that is grounded in an essentially social epistemic disposition, while situating him within the broader context of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy. Studying Buffier’s philosophy, this chapter argues, contributes to widening our understanding of the main philosophical issues in the early modern period and sheds valuable new light on how alternatives to Cartesianism and Locke’s philosophy could develop.